Richmond is blossoming into a tech hub thanks to a great research university, a big creative agency, and cheap, beautiful real estate. [...]

In hearing from dozens of Richmond startups, two institutions stick out as important nodes in the local innovation system. The first is Virginia Commonwealth University. As Richard Florida pointed out, a good university is monumentally important for pumping out skilled people whom startups can hire. In Richmond, VCU is that talent factory.

Conversation (2)

I won’t deny that VCU is a major contributor to the success of Richmond’s creative firms, nor will I deny that the Martin Agency puts Richmond creative services on the map. Our tech corridor is definitely growing as well.

I think the article in the Atlantic suggests that RVA is making a name for itself in the creative and tech worlds, but really, I think all we are doing is playing catch-up.

We don’t do anything as well as the other tech and creative cities, and we don’t do anything differently. We do a lot of copy and paste, translation sort of work and seem to have a hard time generating our own interesting, creative, and unique ideas.